By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Sept. 4, 1998
SEATTLE -- The renaissance of the Seattle Seahawks is no simple matter.
It's
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Dennis Erickson is hoping for a quick start for a change.
(Allsport)
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There are more steps to take than listening to vice chairman Bert Kolde talk about the NFL-record amount of money owner Paul Allen has spent on advertising to restore faith in the community.
It comes with the word that continues to blow around the Pacific Northwest with the fresh scent of cedar trees. The Nordstrom family -- yes those Nordstroms -- still regrets selling the Seahawks in August of 1988 to Oakland real-estate tycoon Ken Behring. There is a reason why Nordstrom department stores have such a great reputation -- which is diametrically opposite of Behring and his behind-the-scenes dealings that had the Seahawks moving to Los Angeles for a few moments in 1996.
ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS NOW IS ALLENrode in on his white horse in April of 1996 and prevented the Seahawks from abandoning Seattle by buying the team from Behring. Then, a year later, he laid the groundwork for a new stadium worth nearly $500 million that will sit next to the similarly priced Mariners stadium on the southern edge of downtown.
As the Behring era was crashing to a close, Erickson, a native of nearby Everett, was hired away from the University of Miami in 1995. With no players, no money to go after free agents, and an uncertain future, Erickson still managed to get the Seahawks to 8-8. They stumbled in at 7-9 in the year of transition and were a very disappointing 8-8 a year ago when injuries and horrid special teams got in the way.
He knows, with a talent-filled roster on both sides of the football, it's time to make the playoffs this season or look for another job.
"I've felt pressure every time I've coached for 25 years," Erickson said. "And when I don't feel that pressure, I shouldn't coach. I feel the pressure to win. I want to win now and that's what I'm all about. I put pressure on myself and on my coaches, my wife, my kids and my dog. So there's a little pressure right now.
"The expectations are high, including the football team (expecting a lot of itself). You can't win and be successful unless you have high expectations and this football team has high expectations of themselves and each other. I wouldn't want this team to have anything but high expectations because that's what our expectations are as coaches."
THE RESULT OF WINNING ALSO SHOULD bring the fans back. From the birth of the Seahawks in 1976 until the Nordstroms sold the team to Behring, it required a family legacy to get a season ticket into the Kingdome. "The Wave" was born at the University of Washington, and the Seahawks fans became the first NFL team to institute that into their already raucous repertoire. They never got to the Super Bowl, but playoff spots came in abundance under Chuck Knox -- and they were unquestionably the most popular sports team in the Northwest.
Then came Behring and the end of playoff football. Knox left and Tom Flores -- an Oakland buddy of Behring's who had been in and out of football -- was handed the team. It got ugly fast. Season tickets dipped out of the 50,000 range for the first time and got as low as 31,000 when Allen and Kolde took over.
"We got it back up to 43,000 last year and as of today (Wednesday), it's at 48,200 and (we) hope to have 50,000," Kolde said. "It's been interesting, that's why we wanted our theme to be "We're alive and kicking, aren't you?"
The Seahawks contend they have launched the first animated logo in the NFL, with the green, blue and white seahawk in their season ticket commercial. Not only does the seahawk growl and wink, it grabs a season ticket with its beak. Allen, Kolde and team president Bob Whitsitt collaborated on the concept.
The commercials aren't as much about football as the personalities of the team. And nearly all of them show the team running en masse with different areas of Seattle superimposed in the background to impose a subliminal community effect.
"What we discovered with our marketing studies is nobody knew this team or had much faith in it," Kolde said. "What we've also found out is there's no other sport that is more popular in the state when the Seahawks are on and it's an important game. Last year's game in Oakland, 25 percent of the state was watching. That translates into 1.25 million fans are interested in what happens to the Seahawks -- so we just have to bring them back."
REGARDLESS OF THE MARKETING SAVVY OF Kolde, Whitsitt and whomever they hire, it still is meaningless if they don't win. Leading the list of high expectations from Erickson are at least 3,000 yards passing from quarterback Warren Moon, 1,000 yards rushing from running back Ricky Watters, and 100 receptions from wide receiver Joey Galloway. Along with those exceptional people at the offensive skill positions is a powerful, experienced offensive line. Behind the defensive line anchored by Cortez Kennedy, Sam Adams and Mike Sinclair is possibly the fastest group of linebackers and defensive backs in the NFL.
Add a revamped special teams unit that cost them three games last year according to Erickson, and the Seahawks should be back in the AFC title hunt for the first time since the mid-1980s. Imperative to their success is a fast start, considering they are 2-7 in the first three games of each year of Erickson's tenure. That can't happen again, especially after the shattering 41-3 loss to the New York Jets in last year's opener in the Kingdome.
"If I could alter it and knew why, I would have altered it last year -- I've said that many times," Erickson said tersely. "We have got to come out fast, and one of the reasons we've got to come out fast is we've got two games at home, back-to-back (the second and third games against Arizona and Washington). What we have not done well in the last couple of years is play well or be dominating at home all the time. That's more of a problem than anything, and that's something that we spent a lot of time in training camp talking about.
"You look at the good teams, the teams that have been in the playoffs and the Super Bowl . . . they're 8-0, 7-1 at home. You go 7-1 or 8-0 at home, it doesn't take a mathematician to figure out how to go 12-4, so those are things that make a difference. Once we start playing well at home, people start coming in the stands, and can see where they're at selling season tickets. There were more than 50,000 in the last preseason game, so I can see where they're starting to come back. It's up to us to be successful and bring them back, then you really have a home-field advantage."
Erickson has it right. Maybe a commercial with the seahawk winking and growling will pique interest. It just won't last without a great product, which is what the Seahawks now appear to have. Success also requires some luck with injuries, and some breaks in close games, but the formula now seems to be back in place in Seattle.
Indeed, they are alive and kicking again, and the fans are excited again. But the real question following "alive and kicking again," is "but will it be in the playoffs?"
Mike Kahn is CBS SportsLine's executive editor.
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